sun and sand and salt and books

It’s basically summer now, which means my brain is full of travel plans and colourful bikinis and picnic food.

There is a lot to look forward to this summer. I’m off to Portugal and am hoping to throw in a few extra weekends away. I got accepted to a professional development circus training program and adopted an ambitious number of books from the recently-closed Indigo in downtown Vancouver. I plan to spend a generous amount of time lying on the roof of my new apartment building eating potato salad.

My summer reading recommendations:

The Martian by Andy Weir. Such a fun read. Very rah rah engineering.
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. Over and over and over again.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova. I was late to the party on this one. It’s brilliant.
Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us about Ourselves by James Nestor. A little long but very cool.

My summer reading list:

Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova, because, Lisa Genova.
Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown, because I need all the help I can get.
How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen. A friend had bought this and I started reading the first few pages and basically stopped listening to anything he had to say. He was a good sport and bought me my own copy.
Motorcycles I’ve Loved: A Memoir by Lily Brooks-Dalton.

Sweet Potato Salad (paleo)

Ingredients

Salad

one purple sweet potato, peeled, boiled and cut into chunks
one white sweet potato, peeled, boiled and cut into chunks
three tablespoons finely chopped red onion
two tablespoons finely chopped green onion
four eggs, boiled, peeled and cut into chunks
two small apples (I used Braeburn), cored and cut into chunks
one cup grapes, sliced in half
one cup celery, diced
eight slices of bacon, cooked and cut into bits

In a high-powered blender or food processor, emulsify all dressing ingredients. The dressing should end up with a consistency similar to mayonnaise – mine didn’t at first (I suspect it was too cold) so I abandoned it in a jar on the counter and when I came back 15 minutes later it was perfect.
Mix all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, add the dressing, and stir until it’s all mixed up.
Serve cold.